Medical Updates

Stroke: Smoking both traditional and e-cigarettes may raise risk A team at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, has uncovered another electronic cigarette health concern. This time, it relates to stroke risk. Newly issued health warnings have pointed to the potential risks of smoking e-cigarettes. In June 2019, the U.S. saw an outbreak of lung injuries associated with e-cigarettes. Experts believe that vitamin E acetate — an ingredient found in some e-cigarettes containing THC — may be the link. In December 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that more than 2,500 individuals from the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were hospitalized or died as a result of using vapes, e-cigarettes, or associated products. One study that appears in PNAS found that nicotine from e-cigarette smoke caused lung cancer in mice as well as precancerous growth in the bladder. However, a second study, appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, noted a significant improvement in vascular health within a month of a traditional smoker switching to e-cigarettes. Equally worrying findings have come from a new study that appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study found that young adults smoking both traditional and e-cigarettes face a significantly higher risk of stroke.

New study could ‘drastically’ change how we understand Parkinson’s The hallmark symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are motor symptoms that include shaking hands and slowness of movement, but specialists still do not entirely understand what causes this disease. Newly published research may now overturn prevailing notions about key Parkinson’s mechanisms. Motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease may be due to brain changes that take place than experts had previously thought. According to official estimates, in 2020, approximately 930,000 people aged 45 years or older in the United States will be living with Parkinson’s disease. Despite the large number of people who live with this condition, researchers are still unsure exactly what causes it, and, to date, they have found no way of reversing it. The primary symptoms of Parkinson’s disease affect movement and include shakiness, slowness of movement, and limb rigidity. These motor symptoms can seriously affect a person’s quality of life, so specialists have put a lot of work into finding ways of lessening their effects. A new study by lead researchers from the Institute for Basic Science in Daejeon, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and the Asan Medical Center in Seoul — all in South Korea, may now overturn existing notions regarding the cause of motor symptoms. The research, which appears in the journal Current Biology, found that symptoms of Parkinson’s disease appear before the premature death of dopaminergic neurons. In their study on mouse, they found that before the dopaminergic neurons die off, they stop functioning — that is, they stop correctly synthesizing dopamine — and this sets off the symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. The researchers confirmed that this process occurs not just in animal models, but also in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease. How might bitter melon help treat cancer? Bitter melon, or bitter gourd, has served as a traditional Indian remedy for centuries. Recently, bitter melon extract supplements have been gaining popularity as an alternative medication for diabetes. Now, new research in mouse models finds that bitter melon may help treat cancer. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia), also known as bitter gourd, is a “relative” of both cucumber and zucchini. It originated in the South Indian state of Kerala. Traditionally, bitter melon has helped treat many health concerns, and it has

recently gained some popularity as a natural remedy against diabetes. The fruit is also a staple of certain Asian cuisines, adding to local dishes’ unique flavor through its specific bitterness. Recently, Prof. Ratna Ray — from Saint Louis University in Missouri — and her colleagues made an intriguing find. In experiments using mouse models, bitter melon extract appeared to be effective in preventing cancer tumors from growing and spreading. Testing hearing by looking at the eyes New research introduces an innovative hearing test that may help people who are unable to respond, such as babies or people who have had a stroke. The new test relies on measuring the dilation of an individual’s pupils. Measuring the dilation of a person’s pupil may indicate whether they can hear or not. Traditional ways of testing a person’s hearing include tuning fork tests, speaker distance examination, and pure-tone threshold

tests. These tests involve reflexes, such as raising the hand or pressing a button on hearing a particular sound. From this, the specialist can determine how well a person can hear varying pitches and levels. However, these methods cannot give a response from people who are unable to respond, such as adults with stroke, young people with developmental problems, or babies. A team of researchers from the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon in Eugene came up with an alternative way of testing someone’s hearing that does not require a direct response from them. The scientists used eye-tracking technology to examine the pupils of 31 adults, with an average age of 24 years old, who had no hearing loss.The experimenters used an infrared video camera to monitor the participants’ pupils as they were taking a standard hearing test. The research established that hearing can be tested by looking at the eyes.

Body temperature: What is the new normal? A recent analysis of temperature trends suggests that the average human body temperature has dropped since the 19th century due to physiological changes. The authors of the new study also highlight potential causes of these alterations. Most of us only take our temperatures when we are worried that we have a fever, as a result of an infection or a cold, for example. But body temperature can indicate and be influenced by many other factors; lifestyle habits, age, and ambient temperature can all influence how our body disperses heat. Body temperature is also a marker of metabolic health. Specifically, the authors of the new study explain, human body temperature indicates metabolic rate, which some have linked with longevity and body size. In 1851, a German physician called Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich surveyed 25,000 people in one city and established that 37°C is the standard temperature of the human body. However, recent analyses and surveys suggest that the average body temperature is now lower. A study of more than 35,000 people in the United Kingdom and nearly 250,000 temperature measurements found that 36.6°C is the average oral temperature. A research team of Stanford University’s Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, in California after their studies hypothesized that “the differences observed in temperature between the 19th century and today are real and that the change over time provides important physiologic clues to alterations in human health and longevity since the Industrial Revolution.” Does smoking cause depression? Most of us are familiar with the physical health effects of smoking, but can the habit also affect our mental and emotional well-being? A new study by a research team from the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Jerusalem, Israel suggests that it smoking can affect mental and emotional well being also, after finding a link between smoking cigarettes and depression. For instance, depression tends to be twice as likely among people who smoke than those who do not, but it is not yet clear which causes which. Some researchers, however, believe that smoking may lead to depression, not vice versa. What is more, other studies have found that people who had never smoked generally have a better health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as well as less anxiety and depression. (Source : Medical News today)